New Hilton comms boss looking to fill four regional slots

LONDON: Hilton Group's recently appointed global PR chief Leslie McGibbon will hire new PR heads for four global regions as the leisure group tries to bring a "more coordinated" approach to its global communications.

LONDON: Hilton Group's recently appointed global PR chief Leslie McGibbon will hire new PR heads for four global regions as the leisure group tries to bring a "more coordinated" approach to its global communications.

McGibbon, who took on the newly created role this month, is in charge of PR for Hilton's 400 hotels around the world. Formerly director of communications for Hilton UK and Ireland, McGibbon handles PR for Hilton and Scandic hotels, including the Hilton Worldwide Resorts chain.

McGibbon said his role was created to "ensure a coordinated approach to PR across 77 countries," adding that his primary aim is to appoint a communications head for each of five global regions. He is currently seeking heads for the Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and Nordic regions.

Hilton uses a range of agencies in each territory, and McGibbon said agency relationships would be "something (he) would be looking at." Yet he denied that there are plans for a formal review or global pitch "at this stage," saying that that issue will be looked at in the second half of 2003 at the earliest.